DIABETES MELLITUS

Diabetes Mellitus is a series of portraits of people living with Type 1 diabetes. Living with the condition myself, I use painting to explore the tension between resilience and vulnerability, and to make visible a disease that often remains unseen. Glucose sensors, insulin pumps, and infusion sets appear throughout the works—as medical symbols, and also as part of everyday life. By bringing these devices into the language of portraiture, the series challenges the stigma surrounding diabetes while celebrating the strength of those who live with it. Diabetes Mellitus was first presented at Het Salon Amsterdam with an accompanying publication featuring essays by Edwin Becker, Head Curator of the Van Gogh Museum, and curator Bram Groenteman.